Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1887-08-16
4 CURIOUS STORY.
A Strange But observation-disclosures In
stance OF Canine Second sight.

have as keen perception and as quick
an appreciation as man himself Of any
thing out Of the usual order Of things,
or partaking in any way OF prefer
natural character. Whether the whole
animal creation are endowed with this
singular sagacity it is impossible to say,
and would be equally impossible to
prove; but as regards dogs and horses
at any rate-if we are to believe the
many stories which have been related
4 ON the very best authorities--it is GER
/ tain that those animals have been the
first to recognize --and to testify by their
fright and terror the force Of such re-
cognition- that they are in the presence
OF something beyond their ken; and
the next step is, with true animal
sagacity, to seek safety in fight. with
the usual accompaniment Of scared
looks, dropped tails and ears, and
dropped heads.
In the following curious narrative
remarkable instance is given Of a dog
having evidently seen something not
seen by either his master or mistress.
which evidently at first caused him
great delight, but which, on closer in
yestigation, turned out to be empty
space, and produced In he dog all the
signs of abject fear. The peculiar cir
cumstances Of the story, which were re-
lated to the writer by friend, whose
word he can have no reason to doubt,
are simply these;
A young lady, Miss F., was on .
visit to family Of name and position,
Colonel and Mrs. c.. who occupied
a large mansion in one Of the home
counties. They possessed favorite
setter, pet of everybody, but especially
Of Miss F.. who was as fond Of the
dog as the dog was of her. Wherever
Miss F. went, walking, driving or
riding, Flora was sure to DO close at
hand. And in the drawing-room the
dog would sit by Miss F--'s side, lay
her long white nose on the lady's knee
and look up earnestly in her face,
making that peculiar sort OF snoring In
the nose which pet dogs often attempt,
either to attract attention or to express
love. II, however, Flora was accident
ally shut out from any room In which
Miss F. happened to be she would
scratch at the door and whine and cry
In pitiful manner until the door was
i opened.
Miss p had been staying with
Colonel and Mrs. c. about three or
four weeks. when she became suddenly
i'll and determined to return without
delay to her homo in the adjoining
county. Thither she was removed in
an invalid carriage; but although she
received every possible care and atten-
ton she appeared to get no better; her
malady was evidently increasing daily.
! About month after Miss F. had
left Colonel G---'s house, he and his
wife were one day In their morning
room, which looked out upon an extern
sive lawn. The bells of the neighbor-
ing village church had begun to ring
for the usual daily mathis, the time
being quarter before ten, and the
Colonel and his wife were preparing to
attend, according to their regular Gus
tom. when they observed Flora
was lying apparently asleep, close to
the open glass doors leading to the
lawn--raise her head quickly, and,
with cooked ears and strained eyes,
look intently down the lawn, as II
she saw something there which attracted
her attention. All at once she jumped
up, bounded over the grass, and com.
menced leaping up two or three times,
expressing all those signs Of intense
canine joy usually exhibited on meet
ing, after an absence, some specially
loved object In moments however,
the dog ceased her gestures, dropped
her tail and head, manifesting every
sign of abject fear. and. turning round,
rushed back to the house, into the room,
and crawled under the sofa, whence
neither calling nor coaxing on the part
Of Mrs. c. could induce her to stir.
This peculiar conduct on the part Of
Flora, who was remarkable for her high
training and perfect obedience, sur.
prised and perplexed both tho Colonel
and his wife quite as much as the
violen. manifestations of Joy, followed
immediately by every sign of the most
crouching terror, all of which were
wholly unaccountablo.
About two hours later In the day q
telegram was received by Mrs. c.
containing the sad and unexpected In.
telligence Of the death Of Miss F.
at quarter to ten that morning.
1t may fairly be asked what could
have caused the dog suddenly to star,
up and rush down the lawn with all the
outward demonstrations of intense Joy
usually exhibited on seeing and meet
ing loved friendp Flora, withou,
doubt, must have seen something, OF
fancied she saw something, though in
visible TO the eyes of man, but, finding
it had no tangible substance, her canine
instinct told herthst it was unnatural
and unusual, and hence fear took the
place of joy, and she sought refuge in
Digit. That the object of these tokens
of love on the part of the dog should
have passed to her rest at the identical
moment they were exhibited by the
faithful and attached Flora is coin
cidenoe regarding which we will not
pretend to offer an opinion. Chambers
Journal
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